I'll Be There
by Lightning-Dono
Summary: Anna has always been mean to Tamao at her anger's peak...But what spurred her to change her mind about Tamao? [Finally updated]
1. Leave

[DISCLAIMER] Shaman King is NOT any of my property. This fanfiction is based upon it, but that certainly doesn't mean I own the anime title!  
  
Note: /.../ indicate ones thoughts, since Notepad can't do italics.   
  
and -...- indicates bold letters, since Notepad can't do bold letters either.  
  
Lightning-Dono: I wanted to make a short fanfiction...er, short is a word I use to mean as in...Not very long...I wanted to start on a Shaman King fic because the characters are interesting to write about...Even if I'm having a tough time using the dub names or not. But I guess I will since so many people watch the dub. o.O  
  
To summarize the story in whole, this story is all about Anna and Tamara. How interesting, eh? But It's really cute. Anna has always been mean to Tamao (Tamara), but one day, something happens that spurrs her to be kinder...Read on?   
  
LET'S GO! =D   
  
(Edit) I've fixed some mistakes in this chapter. 5/21/04 (/Edit)  
  
Anna was undoing the ribbon around her head carefully, trying not to make it touch Tamara's soft, sleeping face. Anna didn't like this girl...especially because of her affections towards people around her, her weakness and just her presence. Tamara had been over so much lately and she was with Morty more and more that Anna feared she might've liked Morty...They did share some pretty common things, but Anna wasn't planning on something like that. Besides, Tamara was competition for Yoh, and Anna liked competition more than anything.   
  
Halfway through putting the ribbon back on loosely, Tamara woke up. Looking up at the clock dazedly, she said in a croaky voice, "Anna, it's 9:00 AM..." her head then drooped against her shoulder. "Yes, and that's exactly why you should be awake right now," Anna replied in a sour voice while turning on the TV. With a swift movement of her hand, she knocked Tamara out of her position. "Anna, where's Yoh?" She drew her hand across her eyes sleepily.   
  
"He's out training, smart one. Where has he been in the mornings ever since you got here?" Anna propped a mug of hot chocolate up on a small table and leaned on her cushion, still watching the soap opera deep in thought.   
  
"Thank you for the compliment," Tamara said shyly. She was still a little afraid and edgy around Anna.  
  
"What 'compliment'?"  
  
"You just said I was smart."  
  
Anna turned around a raised an eyebrow at Tamara, who clearly didn't understand the concept of sarcasm. "No, you're not smart. You're slow. Now get away from me!" Anna turned around again as Tamara flushed a deep red. "Anna-san, what do you want me to do?" Anna pretended to not listen. "Anna-san?" Anna continued to not listen. Tamara sighed and unwillingly got up and ran into the bathroom.   
  
Once in the bathroom, Tamara locked the old wooden door and sat down on the edge of the bathtub.   
  
/Why does she always have to be so mean to me?/   
  
Tamara thought miserably, putting her face into her hands.   
  
/What did I ever do to her? I've always worked for her...I guess...Funbari Inn has been a big part of my life./  
  
She got up, wet the cloth and proceeded to wash her face. Looking up in the mirror, she sighed.   
  
/Yoh will never like me now. I look horrible.../   
  
Then Tamara got an idea. It had to work or she would make a fool of herself.  
  
Tamara opened the drawer with all of Anna's make-up and beauty supplies. Anna never used them for looks...Only for little jokes that she thought were funny...Like smothering lipstick on Tamara's clean face while she was sleeping. Tamara slowly took some cherry red lipstick, twisted it from it's tube and attempted to put it on her lips. Some of it went off, but she just wiped it away with a tissue. But something wasn't right. Tamara looked down at the tube of lipstick and realized that she had twisted it out too far. She tried to twist it back, but the bathroom door swung open and hit her arm. "I thought the lock worked," she said in shock as she tried to close the door with her elbow. Dropping the lipstick, in broke and the lipstick part came out. Tamara, in panic, picked it up and tried to stuff it back into the tube, but to no avail. It refused to go back in. Tamara shrugged, placed it into the sink and decided that was enough. It was only a few hours later when Anna walked into the bathroom that she knew what had happened.  
  
Anna hadn't been placing eyes on Tamara ever since that morning. She just hated that fool of a girl more than anyone. But she hated Tamara even more after she saw what had happened.   
  
Anna needed to go to the bathroom like anyone else did sometime or another. Walking barefooted to the bathroom, she opened the door and her eyes got larger in suprise. A lipstick stain on the wooden floor, her drawer open and a chunk of lipstick in the sink.   
  
/Who could've done this?/  
  
Anna thought, staring at the horrid mess that lay infront of her.   
  
/Certainly not Trey, Yoh or Rio...Well, perhaps Rio, but even HE can't be THAT stupid.../  
  
Anna then spotted the evidence that she needed. A strand of pink hair that was lying next to the sink. Anna's fuse had been lit. "TAMARA!" She shouted. So loud that even Tamara sitting out on the front porch could hear. Morty was watching Yoh trying to climb up a tree with weights on, his legs swinging off the porch step when he heard Anna. "Looks like Anna needs you, Tammy-chan," he told her pleasantly. "Then again, it can't be anything good if it's Anna who wants you." Morty smiled innocently and pushed Tamara in to the house.   
  
Entering the room where Anna was, she couldn't comprehend the look on Anna's face. It was a cross of uncertainty, displeasure and anger. "It was just lipstick." It was meant to sound like a strong defense, but it came out as weak words that could only hit Anna at a minimal speed. Anna looked untouched.   
  
"Tamara, tell me why you even care to live in this house." Tamara trembled, holding her purse tightly. "Tell me now." Anna was looking more and more dangerous by the second.   
  
"I-I don't know," she replied.   
  
"No, that's not what I want to hear." Anna rose from her chair, holding the empty tube of lipstick. "I suppose THIS means -NOTHING- to you!?" Anna shouted outrageously.   
  
"But it was...it was only lip-lipstick!"   
  
"LIPSTICK!? AND WHAT THE HECK WOULD YOU NEED LIPSTICK FOR? I WASTED MY TIME CLEANING AFTER -YOU- OF ALL PEOPLE!"   
  
Suddenly, Anna regained her calm.   
  
"Get out of this house. No one needs you here."   
  
"B-But-,"   
  
"No 'buts'. Get out of this house. NOW!"   
  
Tamara heart-brokenly left the house. It was evening and the stars seemed dull and blurry through Tamara's red, swollen eyes.   
  
"Why doesn't anyone want me?" She whispered, and sat on the porch step all night, gazing up at the stars longingly, as though wishing they would take her away. 


	2. Never Understanding

Lightning-Dono: Poor Tamao...  
  
Anna: Why feel sorry for her? She's moving in on MY Yoh!  
  
Lightning-Dono: Why do you have to be so mean to her? Why?  
  
Anna: As stated in what I just said. She's moving in on my Yoh.   
  
Lightning-Dono: He's not -your- Yoh.   
  
Anna: Whatever. We're engaged and she's acting like he was someone off the street that needs to be loved.  
  
Lightning-Dono: I'm going to change the fic to a a Romance/Fantasy. Is that okay?  
  
Anna: Of course it is! Romance between Yoh and I?  
  
Lightning-Dono: It's shoujo-ai.   
  
Anna: gasps You'd NEVER...  
  
Lightning-Dono: I'm just kidding...By the way, from this chapter on, Japanese names it will be.   
  
Morty = Oyamada Manta (Manta for short)  
  
Yoh = Asakura Yoh (Yoh for short)  
  
Anna = Kyouyama Anna (Anna for short)  
  
Rio = Bokuto no Ryu (Ryu for short)  
  
Trey = Horo Horo   
  
Corey = Kororo  
  
Tamara = Tamao  
  
"Yoh, do some push-ups for me! Amidamaru, don't help!" Anna turned her back on the boy and his guardian ghost and went to sit on her puffy red cushion once again.   
  
"Oh, so you get to huff sit on a cushion while I huff do push-ups?" Yoh was already out of breath. Anna had been working him pretty hard lately, and he hard the scars to prove it. "If an eternity passes by and you still haven't gained any endurance as far as I can see, you never will. In my life, it's -been- an eternity."  
  
Yoh rolled his eyes and laughed.   
  
"Yeah, and in my world, an eternity is a day. C'mon, Anna. Give me a break." Anna turned up the volume on her soap opera defensively. Yoh sighed and got back to work.  
  
Manta emerged from the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist.   
  
"Where did Tamao-chan go?" He asked, sounding worried. Yoh stopped doing push-ups and sat down.   
  
"Yeah, Anna, where /did/ she go? She couldn't just have disappeared last night."   
  
Anna turned down the volume. How she could hear them, they didn't know, but atleast there would be an answer. "I kicked her out yesterday," Anna said unregretfully, as if it were no big deal that Tamao might've be being eaten by wolves.   
  
"Why'd you do that?" For once, Yoh was concerned. In fact, he was frowning in disbelief.   
  
"Look." Anna approached them calmly.   
  
"That girl has been infecting Morty's mind with complete NONSENSE. Believing in stars, saying totem poles have no connection to ancient spirits, despite what we tell him," Anna said, directing this statement towards Manta. Manta turned red. "And /you/, Asakura Yoh. She's been having a school-girl crush on you ever since she first saw you. And no one will ever take you away from me. So by getting rid of her, I stopped her from cutting our future relationship in half."   
  
For a moment, Yoh thought he saw worridness in her eyes, but it vanished within a few seconds. Yoh shrugged and got back to work before Anna strangled him with her spirit necklace.  
  
But Manta wasn't convinced. He completely forgot that he was standing in the middle of the room, watching Anna unravel the ribbon from her head and completely unaware of the fact that he was only wearing a towel around his waist.   
  
"But /why/ did you have to do it?" He asked tearfully. Didn't she mean -anything- to you? Didn't she matter?" Anna turned around with her arms folded across her chest.   
  
"She didn't matter," Anna replied, her voice wavering slightly. She quickly regained her bossy toughness.   
  
"And that's all that matters! Forget about that girl!" With that, Anna walked quickly of the room.   
  
"I can't believe her..." Manta was shaking his head, fully dressed.   
  
"Well, Anna's like that." Yoh laughed nervously.   
  
"Aren't you worried about her? I mean, Tamao-chan?"   
  
Yoh shook his head.   
  
"She can see the future. How useful can that be?"   
  
"Not very useful?"  
  
"No. Very. She can see enemies coming...She can...anou...get out of their...anou...way?" Yoh was struggling to find words that would make Manta more comforted.  
  
"C'mon, Manta-kun. You worry to much. Lighten up a bit or life will never be any fun."   
  
"It's not fun anymore that Tamao-chan is gone..."   
  
"I see."  
  
That night, Manta went to be with disturbing, violent thoughts kept in his mind.   
  
"Tamao-chan...you have to be okay," he whispered into his pillow, secretly tucking a picture of her beneath it. He fell into a disturbed sleep.   
  
His dream was strange...Tamao was picking flowers in a lonely meadow with hills beyond it. She was highly content with herself, plucking the petals off of them unconcernedly. Ryu was sitting by her, his arm around her shoulder. He was handing her a bouquet of flowers and she looked so happy...He, Manta, was standing there, jealous, the color rising in his face. But they never noticed him. Then, a large spirit came shooting out of nowhere and hit Tamao square between her shoulder blades...  
  
Manta woke up in cold sweat after witnessing that vision. Or dream. he couldn't decide which it was.  
  
Yoh knew something was wrong when Manta ceased to study for school.   
  
"Manta, you're not studying," he said blandly one afternoon, staring at a page of Judo Vocabulary he was supposed to be learning. Manta had his head against the desk as though listening for a pulse through the thick wood.   
  
"I'm worried."  
  
"About Tamao-chan?"   
  
"...yes."  
  
"Well, study anyway. You're making me nervous." Yoh laughed, picked up his pencil and doodled in the margin of the paper.  
  
"I don't want to."   
  
"Wow. Say that again. I don't think I heard you correctly. You did NOT just say you didn't want to study, right?" Yoh chewed on the eraser, waiting for a reply.  
  
"No, I said that. I don't want to do anything. I just want to wait for Tamao-chan."   
  
"Yeah, and when she comes back you'll be a short little skelton with a rotting brain. Manta-kun, this is freaking me out. Memorize one word on the list to cheer me up."   
  
"Sure...Bakuto. 'A wooden sword used as a weapon in the Japanese martial arts'," Manta said without much interest. He sighed and closed his eyes slowly.  
  
"That's better...Hey, wait! That's not on the list!"   
  
When they got home, Tamao wasn't there.   
  
"Manta-kun, stop whining!" Anna said angrily.   
  
"It's your fault! You kicked her out! I whine about it! So there!" Manta was close to tears. Anna tapped her foot impatiently.   
  
"For goodness sakes, Manta-kun! How long are you going to cry over that no-good little girl?"   
  
"Wait, Anna." Yoh walked up to Anna and rested his hand on her shoulder. She shook it off moodily.   
  
"Before you hurt Manta-kun with your words...he likes Tamao! What did you expect?"   
  
Anna gave him 'The Look'.   
  
"I know that."  
  
"Then why do you continue to bug him about it?"  
  
"Because I don't like Tamao and I have a right to stand up for that. Good for him if he likes her! I'm trying to improve his future."  
  
"Yeah, sure."   
  
That night while Anna was putting on her night gown (I FORGOT WHAT IT'S CALLED IN JAPANESE! ;), she looked out the window into the hazy forest, which was getting darker by the second. What if Tamao was in there? Anna didn't know why she was suddenly worrying about that love-sick girl, but she suddenly felt something inside her heart. Something that told her that Tamao was in trouble. Anna removed her ribbon, picked up her necklace from her nightstand, wrapped his around her wrist carefully and walked out of the creaky house, watched by the spirits haunting it.   
  
Up on the roof, Amidamaru watched Anna leave. He glided smoothly down to Yoh's room. Yoh had been sitting in his bed, hands clasped in his lap, in deep thought.   
  
"Yoh-dono," Amidamaru said in a quiet voice.   
  
"What is it?" Yoh asked, looking at the wall opposite of them, covered in pictures of him and Anna as younger children.   
  
"Anna-dono has left and headed into the forest." Yoh stood up.   
  
"I knew she would go look for Tamao. I know Anna-chan. She can't let the guiltiness stay in her heart and lie to herself. Sooner or later, she'll do something..." Yoh pulled the Spirit Sword out from under his bed. "...And it's about time she did." 


	3. Love of Manta

Lightning-Dono: Alright! Chapter 3! o Even though it's just a bunch of touching trash that doesn't really make me feel touched...Until the end...  
  
Anna: I can't believe I'm going to go save that brat...  
  
Lightning-Dono: What brat? Tamao isn't a brat! You guys respect each other!  
  
Anna: (very quietly) Yes...I do...  
  
Lightning-Dono: Yeah, see?   
  
Anna: Oh, be quiet and continue! ;  
  
Lightning-Dono: And if this were a TV Show, I know the song that would be playing in the background when you guys become friends!  
  
Anna: What, "Northern Lights"?  
  
Lightning: No! "Naritai" from Slayers! You're saying "sorry" and "thank you"! =D  
  
Anna: How. Touching.   
  
Lightning-Dono: You know...They keep saying "Gomen Ne" and "Arigatou" and it's all pretty and cheerful and engergetic--  
  
Anna: I KNOW, I KNOW!   
  
Lightning-Dono: Yes, of course. ..;  
  
-Ryou Bakura walks into the scene-  
  
Ryou: Hi. Jou won't make friends with me.   
  
Lightning-Dono: EEEEkkk...What are you doing here!?  
  
Ryou: ...  
  
Lightning-Dono: Go back into your fanfic!   
  
Anna's heart was racing as she reached the edge of the forest.   
  
"This is it, Tamao. This is the only time I'll bother trying to save you." Then, she thought over it a second. "Oh, why do I keep lying to myself? I care about her so much...Please be okay, Tamao-chan..." She rushed into the forest and searched the dense trees which seemed to be advancing on her.   
  
Yoh was standing on the porch watching his future wife walk into the forest.   
  
"Yoh, we must act fast," Amidamaru urged with that deep calming voice of his. "  
  
Yeah." Yoh towards the forest, feeling pressured.   
  
"But..." He turned towards Amidamaru.   
  
"Why does she suddenly care so much about Tamao? Didn't she always hate her?"   
  
Amidamaru shook his head.   
  
"That's not true, Yoh-dono. She always cared about Tamao-dono. She was afraid to admit it...and she still is." Yoh sighed dramatically.   
  
"Anna, Anna, Anna...What next?" They continued to walk towards the forest.  
  
Beads clanging against each other, Anna continued through the forest. The branches seem to contain restless spirits everywhere of animals who had died in forest fires. It was then that she spotted a fire, the flares dancing slowly across the thin sticks of wood...She went for a closer look and saw Tamao sitting there, sadly holding a bent stick with a fish skewered onto it over the small fire. Her purse was open and with her other hand she was pulling out a picture. She blushed as she saw the picture and held the picture to her chest. Dropping the stick with the fish on it into the fire, she let the tears flow freely as she watched the fire burn up her meal...  
  
ANNA'S POV (point of view)  
  
As I watched this young girl struggling to contain her emotions, guiltiness swept through me like a raging storm. Why did I go and do this to her? She wasn't very old, but I had somehow lost my heart and left her like this. I decided not to approach her just yet. It was safer for her not to know that I cared about her yet. The fact that she was hugging a picture of someone that looked suspisciously like Manta didn't bother. It was the way she was holding herself together. The knee on her jeans was ripped and she had a red stain on her shirt, supposedly a blood stain.   
  
Suddenly, I heard a loud crunching sound behind me. Tamao didn't turn around, luckily. I didn't want her to jump to conclusions of how much I cared about her or me being some top-secret government spy.   
  
As I turned around, a familiar face stared back at me.   
  
"Yoh!" I gasped.   
  
"Yeah, it's me," Yoh said, not troubling to keep his voice down.   
  
"SSSSSHHH!" I shushed him and shoved him into a tree.   
  
"How'd you find me?"  
  
"I saw you from my window, Anna. I had to go see what was going on."  
  
"No you didn't! And don't you dare tell Tamao that I care about her!"  
  
"Of course not." Yoh walked towards the part of the trees that was seperated.   
  
"Hm, seems to be enjoying herself, doesn't she?"   
  
"No. Can you see what that picture is depicting that she's hugging?"  
  
"Yeah. I think it's Manta-kun."  
  
"She likes Manta, Yoh." I indicated the picture freely.   
  
"I know that. Let's head home." Yoh grabbed my hand and tried to pull me out of the woods. But I refused to leave. How would I live with myself if I knew that I had found the person whom I had kicked out, but had never decided to apoligize and allow them to return?   
  
"No, Yoh," I whispered, shaking. I sank to the ground and started to cry silently, something Yoh never thought I'd do. Well, he was wrong. Even the toughest of people had a weak spot...He knelt over curiously.  
  
"Anna, what's going on?"   
  
"Nothing..."  
  
"Don't tell me 'nothing'!" Yoh exclaimed. Tamao turned around cautiously and caugh a glimpse of Yoh's black suit, with the bright orange zipper and seams.   
  
"It's you, Yoh-san," she whispered almost happily. She practically skipped out from where she had been sitting and cradling the picture before. She then saw me and her face fell. I managed a small smile that she never saw...A nervous smile.  
  
"It's...Oh, no." Tamao ran back to the fire, stomped on the flames with her sandals and picked up her purse.   
  
"TAMAO, WAIT!" Yoh cried, stumbling to try and reach her. But to no avail. Tamao cast a frightened look back at the pair and fled into the heart of the forest. Yoh turned towards me, and for a second, I thought he would swing the sword at me. But instead, he helped me up steadily as I wiped my eyes with my night kimono.   
  
"Stop crying. It isn't like you," he whispered into my ear.   
  
"I'll try," I replied, my voice wavering slightly.  
  
We got back to our house...But it didn't seem real. I felt so heavy and as I walked through the door, I collapsed on the floor and Yoh had to help me up into my room.   
  
Even though I had my eyes closed (or 'observing the back of my eyelids', as Yoh put it), I could still see Tamao's frightened look, the picture of Manta, the day she poured Yoh a glass of juice when we were partying with Ren...I turned and pushed my face into the pillow. This was horrible. Why was I feeling such sympathy for such a small, insignificant girl who was moving in on Yoh? Why? Or Yoh's best friend, for that matter?   
  
I got up and walked, cautiously lifting my feet lightly with each step. Finally I got to Manta's room, in which was with Yoh's. I knelt silently by Manta's sleeping bag and brushed back his hair cautiously.   
  
"...I'm so sorry, Manta," I whispered, tears slowly pouring from my eyes as I watching his painful expression, even in his sleep.   
  
Suddenly, he slowly opened his eyes halfway. "...Anna?" He said in disbelief. I nodded. He instantly fell back asleep. 


	4. In the Woods

Lightning-Dono: 4th chapter! I'm better with Shaman King stuff than Yu-Gi-Oh, I guess. Don't know why. By the way, if you have NEVER heard the song "Silent Weapon-Yoh's Version" THEN YOU NEED TO HEAR IT! He sounds like a girl...But he also does in the non-dubbed anime, so I don't really find that unusual. And Anna sounds like an old lady in the non-dub. D  
  
OH! And thank you, EVERYONE for reviewing! It's very nice of everyone to compliment on this fanfic! =D  
  
Anna: Old...lady?  
  
Lightning-Dono: Uh...Yeah. On to the 4th chapter!  
  
Oh, and a word I'll be using in this chapter is 'Hai'. 'Hai' means 'Yes'. ^^  
  
Hao is in this chapter, but he won't be called 'Zeke', okay? ; I hate that frickin' name! Zeke? ZEKE!? O.O  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tamao's POV  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was standing behind a tall tree, panting and hugging my handbag and picture of Manta. Looking up, I saw the spirit of an owl and abruptly moved away from the tree. I had learned that disturbing spirits was disrespectful.  
  
  
  
A few feet away from where I was standing, I saw a large moving figure that kept moving closer to me, not bothering to keep down the noise it was making. A branch cracked loudly where it stood. The branch landed at my feet, barely missing my toes.  
  
"You! Keep still, okay?" The figure said, getting closer to me. I was paralyzed with fear. But even so, I managed to open my mouth and speak.  
  
"H-Hai!"   
  
"Good."   
  
The figure continued to move towards me. I was resisting the urge to run, but even if I did run, I'd be running towards the Inn. Or, what used to be an Inn. And Anna and Yoh would probably be there, waiting for me or SOMETHING...And I couldn't risk that. The muscles in my legs started to twitch uncomfortably.   
  
In an instant, a hand that felt like cold metal clamped onto my mouth, jerked my handbag forcefully from my hand, grabbed the picture of Manta from me, examined it carefully, and thrust it onto the ground. He then wrapped an arm around my waist and all contained breath was released in a huff.   
  
"Where is Asakura Yoh?"   
  
"I-I don't know!"   
  
I had figured out it was a male who looked about 15. He had long hair and looked somewhat like Yoh...But something about him spooked me. I could feel a strange presence within him...  
  
Through my subconsious thinking, I noted that he had taken his arm from my waist.  
  
"THIS IS ASAKURA YOH'S FRIEND!" He shouted at me, indicating the picture of Manta, which was speckled with dirt particles.  
  
"Please...I'll show you to him, then," I said queasily. I felt a little sick when he blasted his hot breath into my face. It wasn't that it smelled bad, but it smelled of all the evils in the world, if I could put it that way. Like pollutants, dead animals and such things.  
  
Still holding my hand, he requested I take him to Yoh. I had an awful feeling about this, but if he got any angrier, then I feared he would shout at me again...Then I'd probably pass out.   
  
I pointed at the Inn, my hand trembling in his. It was amazing how long ones hand can stay cold while holding onto anothers. Or maybe it was just his hand. I was about to change my mind, but I knew he wouldn't be happy, and the last thing I wanted to do was to spoil his moment of internal bliss, as he was smiling like this was the best moment ever in his life.   
  
"Soon, Yoh...You have not gotten rid of me yet!" He cackled softly. I was taken aback. How could anyone want to hurt Yoh, and how did Yoh get rid of him?   
  
Suddenly, his hair whipped into my face as he turned around. My vision blurred as his hair touched my eyes, as I didn't close them in time.   
  
"As for you, my pleasant young lady," he said kindly, as though the past few eventful minutes had not happened.   
  
"Huh?" I drew a hand across my forehead, finding my hand was wet afterwards. I had been sweating out of fear.  
  
"Hmph. Do you know who I am?" He leaned his face towards mine.  
  
"I...No." In truth, I didn't really want to know who he was. What should any business with Yoh relate to me? Why did I always have to be dragged into something, just because I wasn't very important in anyone's eyes?   
  
"I'm Asakura Hao," he whispered calmly at me. He looked into my disbelieving eyes, smiling.  
  
"Y-you can't be! Yoh doesn't have a brother..."  
  
"Yes he does. He never told you because he never had the chance."  
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"WHO CARES WHAT I MEAN!?" He shouted at me.   
  
"What do you want me to do for you?" I was suddenly feeling the anger rise inside myself. "What should it matter what -I- think? All anyone ever think about is their selfish wants and needs! I don't care! Let me go-,"   
  
"Such a perky young lady." Hao didn't let go of my hand like I was expecting him to. Instead, he said in a soothing voice,  
  
"Just do this for me..."  
  
"Why would I do anything for YOU!?"  
  
"Because I need you to do this for me! NOW LEAD ME TO HIM!" He thundered, approaching the porch with great speed and letting go of my hand.  
  
"...Fine," I replied, giving up on the strength that I had so well built up inside me.   
  
"Good." Hao smiled back at me. He stepped up onto the porch without much caution.  
  
"Ano...Hao? Please keep it down!"  
  
"I'm more powerful than anyone here! I don't need to fear anyone coming out and seeing me." He continued up to the door where he looked expectantly back at me.  
  
"Hm?"   
  
"Get up here and let me in!"  
  
"How do I get in there? Anna-san...she kicked me out."   
  
"I don't want to hear sob stories! GET ME IN THERE!"   
  
I didn't want to refuse, as it looked as though Hao was going to explode. I walked steadily up to the porch and rapped on the door gently.  
  
"Louder," he whispered into my ear loudly.  
  
I kept up a steady beat in my knocking and got progressively louder.   
  
A moment later, Anna opened the door.   
  
"Tamao! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Um, Anna-san? Hao wants to see Yoh."  
  
Hao's eyes got very wide as I mentioned his name.  
  
"No, you dummy...UGH!" He pushed me aside and faced Anna.   
  
"Let me in," he said calmly. I sat there, wondering how he was going to get Anna to let him in.  
  
"And why would anyone have a need to see Yoh in the middle of the night?" She stared at him unblinkingly.  
  
"Business," Hao replied sourly.  
  
"No. Yoh doesn't need a job." Anna shut the door...on Hao's fingers. Hao had stuck his fingers against the edge of the door as to keep the door open.  
  
"Hao, mind your own business and leave!"  
  
"No!" Hao shoved the door open forcefully and with the flick of one finger to the side of Anna's head, knocked her out.  
  
"ANNA-SAN!" I screamed, clutching my face with both hands, finger nails digging into my skin.  
  
"Shut up or you will face the same fate as this pathetic girl!"  
  
"Watch what you do to my friends, Hao."  
  
There, standing in the middle of the hall, was Yoh, looking as bright as ever, with Manta behind him. 


	5. Loss

Lightning-Dono: 5th chap--  
  
Anna: Yet again making me look weak?  
  
Lightning-Dono: But you're my favorite character! That makes up for it, right? And besides...No one is perfect and completely strong.  
  
Anna: ...  
  
Lightning-Dono: I forgot how Anna's chant went, so I'm going to have to write it from memory. Sorry if it's incorrect! If you do know it, review this chapter and type it down! ; Ah, and if anyone remembers any attacks that Yoh did other than Celestial Slash, then feel free to tell me. ^^; Also, this chapter has a LOT of dialouge. =\  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hao turned and smiled dangerously.   
  
"So, brother, we meet again."   
  
"I wouldn't call this a meeting. I would call it..." Amidamaru rose from the tablet threatenlingly. "A battle."  
  
Hao closed his eyes as though praying.   
  
"Battling already? I thought I could come and...sort a few things out with you."  
  
Yoh shook his head.   
  
"Nii-sama, don't you see? This isn't going to work out."  
  
"No, I don't see! I came here to sort things out, hoping you would -generously- serve me a cup of tea. Not yell at me and engage in battle!"  
  
"I don't believe you!" Yoh leapt into the air towards Hao.   
  
"AMIDAMARU! INTO THE SWORD!"   
  
These words revived Anna. Those 4 words that Yoh said every training session. The ability that she had coached him on for months.   
  
"Yoh...?" She asked weakly, getting up slowly.  
  
"Anna, run!"  
  
"No," she replied stubbornly, staying put.  
  
"Anna, please!"  
  
Anna's beads rattled as she took them from her neck.   
  
"Tamao, I need you for this." Anna's voice was strangely calm.  
  
Tamao looked at Anna unblinkingly.   
  
"..."  
  
"Tamao, get up."   
  
Tamao stood up nervously.  
  
Anna proceeded to walk between Yoh and Hao, rattling her beads with her eyes half open.  
  
"1 I place for my mother." Anna rattled the beads once.  
  
"2 I place for my father." Anna rattled the beads twice. Tamao's eyes widened.  
  
"3 I place for my brothers back at home." Anna rattled the beads three times.  
  
"I offer my flesh to bring back the spirit of Eliza! INTERGRATE!"  
  
Anna shook the beads furiously at Tamao and everyone watched in mute horror as Eliza, Faust VIII's true love, intergrated with Tamao.   
  
"Don't fail me, Tamao-chan," Anna whispered.  
  
Immediatly, Tamao grabbed the broom leaning on the wall of the Inn that Manta had used for cleaning eariler that day.   
  
Hao looked puzzled as to what was happening, but he caught on very soon when Yoh bellowed,  
  
"CELESTIAL SLASH!"   
  
"Aiiiieeee!" Tamao jumped up and whacked Hao's hair, screeching all the while.  
  
Hao was swept off his feet.   
  
Hao got up, breathing heavily.   
  
"Just give up, will you, Hao?" Anna said coldly.  
  
"'Give up' isn't in my vocabulary, Anna. And neither is 'lose' when it's referring to me! GET OUT OF MY WAY!" His cloak fanned up at the bottom and everything within 3 feet of him was blown away. That included Tamao.  
  
"Tamao-chan! NO!" Manta, despite the fact that he'd probably be crushed by Tamao, ran out to try and catch her.  
  
"Get out of my way," came Tamao's voice with a hint of Eliza's. "I must fight!"  
  
Nevertheless, Manta attempted the catch, but missed by a foot. Tamao was skidding on her back for about 6 feet when Silva appeared from the woods with his friend.  
  
Yoh looked slightly confused and Hao stopped fighting.   
  
"Er...I'll just go and grab a soda," Yoh said aloud and started to run into the Inn. Anna grabbed him by the collar of the new battle suit she had made for him and a little rip appeared.  
  
"Darn it..." Anna let go. "What's so scary about him, anyways?"  
  
"I don't want to get in trouble for unauthorized fighting."  
  
"Of course you don't. But yet, you always are. With Ren and everything. Shouting at each other, pretending to punch eachother..." Anna unraveled her hair ribbon and tied it loosely around her neck.   
  
"Hao! What are you doing here?"   
  
"Just challenging an old friend."   
  
At this, Silva's eyebrows disappeared above his hairline.   
  
"Don't worry. Everything is going to be f-fine-,"   
  
"CELESTIAL SLASH!"  
  
"Block," Hao said simply. A wall of flames appeared before him and part of Yoh's arm was blackened.   
  
"Face the facts, my poor brother. You can't beat me."   
  
Yoh was licking his burnt arm. Anna looked away with a pained look on her face as he did this.   
  
"Just because you're a thousand years or so older doesn't mean I can't beat you!"   
  
"Even if I was just 13, I'd still beat you. I've been monitering your training by sending my guardian spirit to spy on you. You're not very dedicated. You only do it to impress Anna, don't you?"   
  
At this, Anna looked up, surprised.  
  
"No..." Yoh stopped licking his arm. "I do it because I want to make her happy by becoming Shaman King and because I want to get stronger." Yoh grinned. "And because she'll let me eat dinner afterwards." Yoh glanced at Anna's highly unimpressed face and grinned. She forced a smile to come onto her face.   
  
"See? You do it because you're weak."  
  
"Why? Can't a guy enjoy himself while trying to become a great fighter and Shaman King?"  
  
Hao paused at this and frowned at the ground, suddenly in deep thought.  
  
"No."   
  
"Why not?"   
  
"Because while you're enjoying yourself, other shamans that have more potential and ambition are surpassing your abilities minute by minute! There's no time to take a break without the high competition!" Hao knelt down for a second to pick up a stick. "Yoh! I challenge you with this stick! I will put all of my furyoku into it and you do the same with your sword. And the winner..." Hao rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as though thinking of a worthy prize. "The winner claims the other's soul."   
  
Anna gaped soundlessly at Hao.  
  
Tamao subconsciously heard this through Eliza's control and gasped.   
  
Yoh, on the other hand, seemed to find this a very pleasant thing.  
  
"Lucky for you, I don't extract people's souls and suck them up like food," Yoh said, as if this was all a simple joke.  
  
"Yoh, this isn't funny!" Anna suddenly shouted from the sidelines, the hand holding her beads shaking tremendously. "You could get hurt! And I can't bear to lose you again, Yoh!" A tear found it's way from her eye onto her cheek.   
  
"Don't worry Anna," Yoh said quietly, looking directly into her shining eyes. He turned towards Hao dramatically as though he were in a movie. "I promise to defeat him once and for all!"  
  
"Arigatou, Yoh."   
  
The stick Hao was holding started to glow, like it was made of fire. Yoh's sword glowed brighter than before.  
  
"Let's get to it," Hao said, grinning menacingly in Yoh's direction. "I can't promise you any more than your loss and demise!"   
  
"I promise to everyone that I won't lose to the likes of you again!" Yoh leaped towards Hao and started to hack away at Hao's stick. Hao looked unconcernedly at his thick, which was now chipped away to half of it's orginal width.  
  
"It can't be this easy!"   
  
"It won't be..."  
  
Yoh slashed at the stick one last time and a geyser of fire spurted from the center of the stick.   
  
"Wh-what?" Yoh stared at it in disbelief, crouching down to avoid the great geyser of flames.   
  
"That is the true form of my furyoku..."   
  
"What do you mean 'the true form of your furyoku'? Furyoku doesn't have a form!" Yoh shouted incredelously.  
  
"Sometimes there's so much you don't know...You thought of furyoku as how long you can control your spirit and how powerful it is. You power as a shaman. But did you -also- know that furyoku can take a certain form?" Hao said this all in a mere whisper, but it seemed as though the sound vibrations were being carried off into the wind and echoing. Yoh gasped.  
  
"Do you see -now-, my young brother?"   
  
Yoh backed away from Hao, who was stepping closer, to him. Yoh was still crouching on the ground, covering his face with one hand.  
  
"Do you now see that power is more than just some inner force? It can now take forms...And I am powerful enough for that to happen!"  
  
In a split second, the Inn exploded in a cloud of smoke and threatening flames. 


	6. Anna Learns

Lightning-Dono: The more I write this fanfic, the more I love it! Unlike that...other one that I thought was going to be so great and successful. *shifty eyes towards "Drowning in a Nightmare"* Thanks everyone for your reviews and words of inspiration and corrections! It's helped me greatly! =D  
  
Yoh: I'm not going to be beaten, am I?  
  
Lightning-Dono: Why would I not let you beat someone that caused the reason why your grandpa want to kill you when you were born?  
  
Yoh: I don't know.  
  
Lightning-Dono: You'll be fine. I edited out a word in here. It was in japanese, but if you knew what it was, it wouldn't be considered a PG fic anymore. o___o This chapter is short, okay? I want to save stuff for the next chapter.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Anna screamed as the Inn exploded. Yoh jumped up and pulled her away as wreckage and burned wood fell from above.   
  
"Yoh...How could anyone do something so terrible?" She asked, sobbing.  
  
"I-I don't know..." He pulled her closer to him.   
  
A few yards away, Manta was absoloutly traumatized.   
  
"No one's in there, right Yoh? Anna?" Manta pestered, running over to Yoh with a panicked look on his face.  
  
"I don't think there is," Yoh replied softly, still shaken by all of this. "And if there was...I'm sorry..."  
  
Hao took this as a signal for him to start running at the mouth.  
  
"See, Yoh? See how weak you are? You care for mortals, such as yourself, of course. Then you now no longer have the will to fight me!" He laughed evilly.   
  
Yoh stood up, bruised, but still willing to fight.   
  
"I'm not stopping until you've been killed. Or vice versa."  
  
"Hmph. Pathetic mortals, such as you-," Hao indicated Yoh with the wave of hand. "-will never become great Shamans. Much less earn the title of 'Shaman King'."  
  
"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH OUT OF THAT MOUTH FOR TONIGHT!" Yoh jumped up and slashed at the stick one last time. It burst open and a river of lava spewed out of it. Hao was surrounded by it, but it didn't seem to affect him, although he did stagger backwards, catching himself just in time before he fell into the pool of lava behind him.  
  
Tamao broke from Eliza's control and grabbed Manta's hand forcefully.   
  
"Manta, we have to go!"   
  
"But what about Anna...?" He glanced back at Anna, who was standing there quietly, watching Yoh.  
  
"If you guys don't want to join the afterlife, go, and NOW!" Anna threw a threatening look at him.  
  
"But what about you...?"  
  
The beads in Anna's hand rattled restlessly.   
  
"I'll stay here and help Yoh. You guys go on."   
  
Tamao's expression softened towards the teenage girl standing there boldly, surrounded by the thick, burning liquid.  
  
"GO!"  
  
Tamao grabbed Manta's hand and they fled into the woods, Manta casting a frightful look back at Yoh.  
  
Hao was standing there, unharmed.   
  
"You can't beat me, Yoh. Face it."  
  
"How could you do this?"   
  
"I'm more powerful than you are. Look up."   
  
Yoh obediantly looked up, no longer focusing his furyoku on his sword. Amidamaru floated aimlessly like a milky cloud behind Yoh.  
  
Hao jumped up, grabbed the branch of a tree, and brought it down on Yoh's head, knocking him out.  
  
Anna was horrified by the scene that was playing before her eyes. But the only thing that could come into her mind that didn't concern Yoh was that the tree weren't burnt by the lava.  
  
"Why aren't the trees burning?"  
  
"It would be pitiful to harm nature just to defeat my useless brother."  
  
Hao strut over to Anna in a business-like manner. He reached down and put her hand in his. Anna jerked her hand out.  
  
"What do you think you're doing? Don't touch me!" She lasooed Hao with her beads and drew him close to her. Hao looked dreamily at her, as if he were begging her to do something she wouldn't dream to.  
  
"Hao, don't look at me that way." Anna's voice wavered slightly.  
  
"Why not?"   
  
"Because." Anna's other hand whipped out from behind her back and smacked Hao across the face hard. Hao looked shocked and Anna regained her bad temper.  
  
"WHY did you do it? And to a person who's flesh and blood was shared with you! Why?"  
  
"I hate him."   
  
"Why do you hate him?"   
  
"Look, I don't have time for these stupid questions."  
  
"I DEMAND AN ANSWER!"  
  
"Because he's a copy! A mere copy! We look alike! We have feelings for you! I'm older and existed long before he was even born!" Hao's rage grew as he spewed out all of his inner feelings. Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted this. "I hate him! I hate his guts! I-,"   
  
Anna clamped her hand over his mouth.  
  
"Hatred doesn't get you anywhere," Anna said quietly, realizing how strange this seemed. The enemy of her future husband talking to her like they were just buddy-buddy and talking about their feelings about things.  
  
"What?"   
  
"I know this for a fact. Do you know a pink-haired girl named Tamao, don't you?"  
  
"Yes." Hao's voice grew cold and stiff again.  
  
Anna loosened the beads around Hao's neck and took them off of him.  
  
"I made a mistake with her. I shouldn't have been so mean towards her. Now I know what can happen if we continue through this path of hatred. This world shouldn't be a world of violence, hate, and danger."   
  
Yoh was half-conscious as he heard these words. "Anna...?" Anna didn't hear his whisper.  
  
"I-I made a mistake! GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" Tears flew from Anna's eyes as she collapsed on the ground on her knees. Supporting herself with weak arms, she continued to cry. Yoh leapt over the pools of lava towards Anna. He put his arm around her shoulder and knelt down by her.  
  
Hao, who was surprised by this sudden outburst, backed away and disappeared back into the woods, not bothering to make amends with Yoh.   
  
"I'll see you again...Yoh." Hao said tauntingly.  
  
"You too, my brother." Yoh nodded seriously in Hao's direction.  
  
"I didn't mean to kick Tamao out...I just got so mad at her! How will I even talk to her again?"  
  
Yoh helped Anna up from the ground.  
  
"Knowing Tamao, she won't be mad at you."   
  
"How? How can she still believe that I'm kind?"  
  
"She might not believe you're kind, but she'll understand," Yoh assured her.  
  
"Yes..."   
  
Yoh and Anna jumped over the pools of lava and walked slowly to the edge of the woods, looking back at what was once their home. And right then, Yoh felt a pang of sadness.   
  
"This must be how Ryu feels all of the time," Yoh remarked sadly.  
  
"Yes...Too bad Hao had to go and ruin everything. But if he hadn't come, I wouldn't have realized how wrong I was about everything."   
  
"Not about EVERYTHING..."  
  
"Why do you say that?"  
  
"Because my Anna is never wrong about everything," Yoh replied, as though he were Anna's father. 


	7. Beautiful Night

Lighting-Dono: Chapter 7! It's my most popular fic I have up, so I should just go with it. Yoh, Anna and the others are all hobos now. ^^  
  
Everyone: WHHHAAAAATTTT!?  
  
Lightning: =X There's a LOT of dialogue in this chapter. Yoh and Anna interact more and you can spot the intended couples clearly. But you must not have been reading very carefully if you can't see them already. o-O This chapter isn't very long either. Diethel Lyserg also magically has a house. =O  
  
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Tamao and Manta were still running...Until they reached a large area of tall grass.  
  
"Well, this is nice," Tamao said pleasantly, sitting down in the tall grass.   
  
Meanwhile, Yoh and Anna were still trudging through the woods miserably.  
  
"Hao is the worst..." Anna sighed.   
  
"Don't waste your breath on hating -him-. He's not the worst person you'll meet."   
  
"Yoh, how is he related to you?"  
  
"To this day...I'm still not sure. I'm kind of scared, even." Yoh lowered his head to go under a low branch.   
  
"Yoh, are you worried that something bad will happen to you?"  
  
This was the first time Anna actually saw Yoh consider something seriously.  
  
"Anna...You're not worried that something will happen to me, right?"   
  
"You didn't answer my question."  
  
Yoh hesitated a moment before saying his answer.  
  
"Well, yeah." He squinted ahead, looking for something to say to change the subject. "Hey, I see Manta! Tamao should be with him!"  
  
"Don't change the subject, Yoh...I'm serious. I want a straight answer from you and no lies."  
  
"Anna, I am worried." He caught her by surprise by grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her towards him. As he looked closely at her, he saw her fear. "Anna, don't WORRY. I'll be fine. I'm getting better, remember?" This didn't sound very assuring, but atleast it would make Anna feel a little better...Or so he hoped.  
  
"But there are tougher opponants out there."  
  
"I know...Now let's join up with them and try and find a place to stay! We really can't really worry about that..." Yoh looked up and saw a crow. Smiling nervously at it, he rushed with Anna towards Manta's small figure standing amidst the tall grass.  
  
When Tamao saw Anna, there was a slightly painful reunion. At first, Anna refused to look at Tamao directly. Just somewhere out of the corner of her eye. Sometimes she would see Tamao giving her shy smiles, but she didn't smile back. Just kept her cold, reserved expression on her face.  
  
"Anna-san?" Tamao peered into Anna's dark eyes, searching for comfort.  
  
"Hai?"   
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Will you atleast look at me?"  
  
"Iie."  
  
"Please?"  
  
Anna let out a breath that she could see.  
  
"It's cold out here, Anna," Yoh said quietly, looking at Anna in her thin night kimono. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Anna blushed, but it wasn't visible in the dark.  
  
"Okay," Anna said quietly, turning towards the pink-haired girl, whose eyes held an unspoken question.  
  
"What do you want to say?"  
  
Tamao put her hands on her thighs and grasped onto her jeans tightly, turning her gaze towards the ground.  
  
"I, ano, am sorry..."   
  
Anna looked at Tamao, not suprised by this comment.  
  
"I think I should be apologizing," Anna admitted, her expression softening until she didn't even look like the same person. It was just such a nervous, warm look. Tamao looked at Anna, suprised.  
  
"I shouldn't have done what I did. I guess I was just mad. I mean...well...No one seems to know the real me."   
  
Anna hugged herself to warm up. In a flash, Yoh was hugging her tightly.   
  
"...What?"  
  
"I know the real Anna," Yoh said smugly.  
  
"You do?"   
  
"The real Anna is the one who wants me to be Shaman King. The real Anna was the one that inspired me to work harder and found reasons to motivate me, despite her cruel ways. It was the real Anna that got me this far. And that's you," he said to her, as though Tamao and Manta weren't standing there motionlessly gaping at their little moment.  
  
Anna allowed herself to stay in Yoh's arms. For some reason, Yoh acted as though he had just noted the two other people that were watching them.  
  
"Nani?"   
  
Manta gave Yoh an annoyed look.  
  
"We've been sitting here the whole TIME watching you two."   
  
"I don't care," Yoh replied indifferently, letting go of Anna.  
  
"Demo..." Manta couldn't seem to find anything more to say.  
  
"Shut up, Manta, it doesn't matter anymore," Tamao said playfully.  
  
Yoh had to interrupt.  
  
"What's wrong with liking Anna? I mean, if you're engaged, then you have to like the person you're engaged to, right?"  
  
"SUGOI!" Manta and Tamao shouted in unison. "He admited it infront of us!"   
  
Anna looked like she could smack Yoh, but she didn't seem to have the heart to. Yoh was radiating too much love for her to be able to hate him at all. It was a strange feeling to her. She didn't understand how she had gotten so soft, but she enjoyed it. Was this how people like Yoh or Tamao felt all of the time? Anna sighed.   
  
Then, Yoh saw a spirit floating in the tall grass that looked awfully familiar...Then, squinting a bit harder, he saw a green-haired head bobbing up and down.  
  
"MORPHINE!" Tamao shouted. She got up and hurled herself in the direction of the spirit.  
  
"Wow, Lyserg, she's so pretty!" Tamao looked admiringly at Morphine.  
  
"Um, yes," Lyserg said shyly.  
  
"Hey, Lyserg, do you have a place to stay at?" Yoh stretched exageratedly to indicate that he was extremely tired.  
  
Lyserg nodded.  
  
"But there's no room left. I live in a small house, you know..."   
  
Manta cast Lyserg a reproachful look. Lyserg caught the look and shook his head.  
  
"But I can find something..."   
  
Yoh cheered.   
  
"Well, I hope you have mizu...I'M DYING for a drink..."  
  
Anna stared at Yoh as he continued to yawn. Yoh looked back at her.  
  
"What? I meant a drink of water. You know, mizu?"   
  
Anna laughed. This was one of the few times Anna had ever laughed. Everyone whipped around to look at what was going on. Somehow, something had put Anna in such a cheerful mood, she insisted that everyone hurry it up to Lyserg's house.  
  
When they arrived there, all they saw was debris and various pieces of twisted metal that probably once was a bike.   
  
Lyserg looked shaken by this sight. Yoh walked up to Lyserg.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Hao."   
  
"Nani?"  
  
"It's Hao, Yoh! He must be coming after me, now!" 


	8. Unknown Hatred

Lightning-Dono: I'm not sure exactly how long this chapter might be, but I'm pretty sure it'll be longer. Poor Lyserg-kun. =( Yoh seems to be a bit spacey and goofy in this chapter, well...more than usual. And I'm wandering off the main subject of the fanfic. It's supposed to be about how Anna and Tamao end up getting along, but it's gone off somewhere else. But I WILL make this fit into the story. A lot of people seem oddly out of character in this chapter.   
  
Yoh snapped out of his trance.  
  
"Hao? A-Are you sure it's him?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure, but who else would target me like this?"  
  
"Lyserg-kun, look at the possibilities," Yoh said, grabbing Lyserg by the shoulder and making exaggerated arm motions, supposedly depicting a wide horizon of possibilities. Instead, it looked to Lyserg as though Yoh had learned some new miming tricks.   
  
"Marco, for instance..."   
  
Lyserg jerked away from Yoh's grip.  
  
"No way! He'd never do this to me!"  
  
Anna stood silently by the ruins of the house and picked up a tuft of fur.  
  
"Does this fur look familiar to you?" Anna helf out the sample of spotted fur to Lyserg, who shook his head rapidly.  
  
"Must've come from a neko...But what kind?" Apparently, looking up at the sky inspired Anna, as she stood there, staring at the sky for quite a while before coming to a conclusion as to why they found a tuft of neko fur right there.  
  
"I've got it! Chocolove?"  
  
"Chocolove...I don't think he has one...Or...that jaguar." Lyserg pondered on this. "I don't remember who had the jaguar or cheetah or whatever..."  
  
Yoh sighed loudly.  
  
"As long as we have a clue, we can move on and look for whoever did this, eh, minna?"  
  
"No, it's not okay, Yoh..." Lyserg's eyes darkened as he looked down at the ground, his fingers curling into a fist that was shaking.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It's just too much...My parents are killed and now my home is destroyed...I want to do more than just move on...I want revenge now!" Everyone noticed that Lyserg sounded very unconfident about this sudden decision, not to mention hesitant.  
  
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Anna walked up infront of him and looked at him sternly.  
  
"...Iie..."   
  
"Then you shouldn't be making so many quick decisions. We have the time to figure out who did this AND to plan out the attack. Right now, we need to find a place to get to sleep."  
  
"Yeah!" Yoh shouted through a yawn. "It's about time we crashed somewhere for...the morning." He watched at the sun light up the sky in vibrant shades of light pink, orange and blue.   
  
"True to the very last word. How about we just lie down here by Lyserg's used-to-be home and sleep?" Manta patted the ground lightly as though it were a cushion and lay down on it, pretending to be content through his discomfort.  
  
Tamao looked reluctantly at the mass of dirt surrounding them.  
  
"Why can't we sleep in the tall grass?" She asked, looking longingly at the tall grass that lay behind them, a yard away from where they were.  
  
"Tamao, don't complain and just sleep where you please!" Anna chose a spot a few feet away from Yoh and sat down, looking at the sky.  
  
"Yes, Anna-san," Tamao replied. She crawled back to the edge of the tall grass and lay down, just as the sky started to brighten fully.  
  
"Ah! That was a nice rest!" Yoh sat up and stretched, grinning, the music on his headphones turned up.  
  
Anna arose and brushed herself off, looking at the back of Yoh's head in digust.  
  
"Do you have any IDEA how hard it is to sleep while you have those headphones turned up almost all the way?" She asked grumpily.  
  
"I don't know. It's relaxing Reggae music. How can you not like it?"   
  
"It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I can't sleep with something that loud on. It's silent out here! I'm sure you'll agree with me, Ly-," Anna paused and looked around her for the green-haired boy. "Yoh, where did Lyserg go?"  
  
Yoh stopped stretching long enough to turn around to take a look at the people around him.  
  
"Hm. Lys seems to be gone." He chuckled lightly out of nervousness.   
  
"This isn't a laughing matter, Yoh-kun." Anna straightened out her dress in a haughty manner and glared at Yoh.   
  
"Look, Anna. Lys can take care of himself. He's been in tougher situations-," Yoh stopped as Anna interrupted loudly.  
  
"-Has low confidence, is afraid of the situation at hand concerning his home, and needs to have our support to get through this!"  
  
"Not really. He and Morphine are perfect with each other in fighting abilities," Manta pointed out cheerfully.  
  
Yoh nodded briefly and grinned.  
  
"Don't you think so, Amidamaru?"  
  
Amidamaru slowly appeared from his wooden tombstone carving Yoh had made for him in shop class one day.  
  
"Yoh-sama, I do not think it is a good idea to let Lyserg go like this. Anna-dono is right. He needs us."   
  
Yoh snorted rudely and lay back down, staring up at the mid-afternoon sky.   
  
"Guys, you need to get more relaxed about this. We need to be as calm as a pond, swift as the wind, alert as an antelope at the same time. I'm not panicking because I don't want to mess everything up for everyone. I don't want you all to be too hasty about this."   
  
Anna's eyes softened as she listened to Yoh's intelligent words.  
  
"Yoh-kun...I...Anou..."  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"I understand. Let us go."  
  
"Do you not understand what I just said?"  
  
Anna stopped at this, just as she was about to turn towards the open dirt road before them. Manta's wandering attention instantly snapped to Yoh. Tamao sat silently, hands in her lap.  
  
"...Nani?" Anna had never heard anyone have the heart to argue against what she was doing.  
  
"I said 'let's not be too hasty about this'. And you're leaving. We heavn't planned anything out yet."  
  
Anna glanced back at Yoh, who was looking back to her through dark and neutral eyes.   
  
"Okay...I'll stay then. Though I hope you don't plan to do anything ridiculous that might cost us our lives." Anna sat down, cross-legged.  
  
"I won't put the cost that high." Yoh chuckled lightly and drew a diagram in the dirt before him, not really understanding what he was doing.  
  
Tamao leaned over Yoh's shoulder interestedly.  
  
"What's that?" She pointed at the stick figure that was carried away by another very plain stick figure.  
  
"Anou...Ah! That's Lyserg being kidnapped by...a really skinny guy," Yoh replied.  
  
Anna muttered about how horribly this was going.  
  
"Anna, if you don't appreciate my drawings, don't look at them!" Yoh continued to draw hair on the stick figure that was being carried away.   
  
"I appreciate them, but I wish you'd try and draw something that would actually help us. All I've learned from your pictures is that it's not possible to make very detailed stick figures!"  
  
"Cool it," Manta said, and walked over to Yoh, who was busy drawing clothing onto the stick figures. At that instant, Manta gaped at them soundlessly, turned back to Anna and shook his head.  
  
"Never mind, keep yelling. This is RIDICULOUS! I'm going CRAZY!" Manta yanked a handful of dead grass from the bare ground and threw into the air, waving his arm all the while.   
  
Yoh stared at Manta, surprised at this sudden outburst.  
  
"C'mon, Manta! I'm trying my hardest here!"  
  
Tamao's eye twitched unintentionally at this very noticeable lie.  
  
Anna rounded on Yoh, who was intently labeling the stick figures with his now dirt-caked index finger.  
  
"Look, Yoh. We don't want stick figures. You were so serious before, but if this is you idea of planning, that's...That's just plain old bad!"  
  
Yoh sighed, stood up, and kicked at the 'diagram'.  
  
"Fine. If it makes you all so happy, let's go and save Lyserg!"  
  
A few hours later of traveling along that same dirt road, Manta lost his stretching patience.  
  
"Yoh, all we can marvel at here is this STREAM!" He shouted into Yoh's ear. "Maybe if you hadn't been drawing aimless stick figures on the ground, we might've been able to find Lyserg by now!"  
  
Yoh covered his ear.  
  
"If you're trying to make me lose my hearing, as well as my sanity, you're succeding. So stop and accept the fact that we're lost and be happy that we're still alive."   
  
"Yoh you've already lost it," Manta replied, looking over at Tamao, who had stuck her face into the stream.  
  
"Yoh." Anna was standing further down the stream, and looking over at something in the distance with a faint look of relief on her face.   
  
"Yes, Anna?"  
  
Anna turned and looked at him, her face shining. Not with tears, but with pride and happiness.  
  
"There's a city right there, Yoh!"  
  
Everyone ran to Anna's side and gazed over the grove of trees.   
  
"Anna-san, this is wonderful!" Tamao hugged Anna.  
  
"Tamao, let go of me." Anna looked at the girl who was reluctantly letting go of her.   
  
"Let's get down there...Now!" Yoh grabbed everyone's hands and dragged them down the hill and through the grove of trees.  
  
After a very horrid experience of running at Yoh's speed, they were all sitting on a bench, drinking water.  
  
"Yoh-san, I don't have as much stamina as you do. You should slow down next time." Tamao took a large gulp of water, some of it dribbling down her chin. Anna looked at the thin strip water dripping down Tamao's chin with great disgust and out of pure instinct, she took the edge of her hair ribbon and wiped away the water. Tamao's head whipped sideways so quickly that water spilled all over her lap.   
  
"TAMAO!" Anna threw down her hair ribbon on the bench and stood up. "That water costed money!"  
  
"I-I'm sorry, Anna-san!" Tamao sat their sobbing into her hands.  
  
"Anna, just let it go! It was just water!" Yoh grabbed Anna by the shoulder forcefully as Anna raised her arm threateningly at the young girl, who looked back up at her with frightened eyes.  
  
Suddenly, Tamao said something that Anna would never have had been able to consume. Ever.   
  
"I hate you, Anna-san." 


	9. Leaving of Tamao

**Lightning-Dono**: Sorry about the lack of updates on this fanfic! My writing has gotten MUCH better (Or so I think) since I updated last, so you can expect a little more descriptive qualities stuck in.

--

Anna gave Tamao a stunned look – it was the pure expression of horror and impending anger combined into one. Manta jumped several feet into the air. Not even _he_ had the will to say such malicious things to Anna. Then again, his courage had always waned in the face of those who were larger than him and with the unrelenting nature to slap anyone who might confront her in an offending way.

"Y-You what?" Anna's fingers automatically curled into shaking fists.

"I hate you, Anna-san! You're always so mean to me, no matter what I do for you! I work for you! I work for YOU! What do I get? Nothing! Not even a bit of respect! I feel enslaved...all the time!" Tamao was seemingly on the verge of tears.

"Well?"

"...Sorry..." Even this one word that could've been thought of as a sentimental phrase for Anna came out cold as ice. She looked particularly vexed at this moment, feeling the urge to upbraid the girl. A girl that had such a whimsical fantasy that life was constantly fair. Anna knew that she had never made very many friends due to her unbecoming irascible personality, but if she was ever approached by someone who wished for her to accept them as a friend, Tamao wouldn't be nearly as content as she was now, which was saying something.

"No, you are NOT sorry!" Tamao got up quickly, water soaking her jeans. "You always say sorry like that whenever you're in a tight spot. And it never sounds sincere!"

"Fine then." Her face was as bland as the surface of a loaf ofwheat bread. Anna's stomach churned uncomfortably as she watched Tamao dry her jeans with her shirt haughtily, filled with unknown rage towards this feeble girl. Who did she think she was, pretending that she could take over in such a way? Someone like that could never please her.

Tamao, casting one last look upon Anna's calm visage, turned on the heel of her trainers and ran like the wind towards the heart of the city. Plunging her way through crowds, she flailed about, hoping that she could soon find the protection she needed. _As long as there's no Anna, I'll be safe...As long as there's no Anna..._

"Anna, this is ridiculous," intoned Yoh, who was standing on the sidelines, horrified by this sudden outburst from an otherwise quiet and reasonable person. Sure, Tamao sometimes grew teary eyed in his company for no particular reason, but she wasn't what you would consider a drama queen.

Anna's cheeks flushed a rosy crimson as she turned towards him, her eyes suddenly filled with unfound emotion. It was the compound created from years of suffering as she lorded over people who rarely appreciated her presence. Without her, Funbari Inn would already have died out and she knew it quite well. Even if the fact remained to be that the area where it used to stand was now occupied by an ashen building that crumbled, not reflecting it's grandeur from years before, she had kept it running for that long. And if they didn't have the heart to appreciate what she had done for the good of keeping it in motion, then she didn't feel the need to be merciful, either.

"Yoh, do you know how much this little girl ALONE has done? She's caused me to do things I never would've done otherwise, and done things that I never really wanted her to do to begin with! I just want to leave her here!" Anna raged, watching Yoh through dark eyes.

To her frustration, Yoh stood there, radiating the equivalent an angelic power that could overpower any evil. In fact, disturbingly so, he was smiling serenely at her, as though in defeated agreement that he hid.

"As you like. Let's go, everyone."

Manta stared at Yoh in disbelief, eyes boring through Yoh's spine.

"Do you mean...I'm going to stay here with Tamao!" He uttered bravely.

Yoh wanted to scream at all of them for having such false hopes that he was going to deal with this all without snapping. Instead, he said, "Manta, come on." He reached out his hand for his friend's.

The look in Yoh's eyes predicted the doom that would ensue should Manta defy his reasoning. But if Yoh was truly his companion, he would certainly understand why Manta said the thing he did next. Jerking his arm away violently, he reared his head and took a deep breath.

"Yoh, I've agreed with everything you've done so far...almost. But this is going way too far! Tamao is our friend and if you can't accept that, you can just leave!"

A blank, rather glazed expression appeared on Yoh's face, hazing out his previous look of kindness.

Instead of Yoh, it was Anna who opened her mouth and spoke in Yoh's defense. Her voice had returned to it's cold, controlled calm that Manta hated so much. How Yoh could even stand this woman was beyond him, but he wasn't going to let her control him any longer. "Manta, you have no clue what you're doing! We have to look for Lyserg and here you are, defending that-,"

"I don't care who the hell I'm defending! I care about Tamao and you would do the same if you loved someone!"

Silence reigned over the entire group. Yoh's eyes seemed as though they had been forced to endure magnifying glass treatment, Anna stood as stiff as a gargoyle planted in place, and Manta was blushing furiously. It was unbelievably tense.

"So," Anna managed to say, her voice now softer and more intimidating. "You like that girl." She managed a wry smile to make up for lack ofa genuine one.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Manta replied ruefully, feeling a bit afraid of this sudden feeling of anxiety that was rising into the air. His voice reeked of fear and despite his attempts to hide it, Anna could feel him shaking below her.

"Stay here, then."

"Anna..." Yoh had resorted to whining in the most unmanly way, trying to distract her from her stable position infront of Manta, who looked positively terrified.

"No, Yoh, I'm not going to make him keep traveling with us," said the girl, not bothering to turn around to take in his expression to be able to fathom his feelings. She no longer needed to sample the emotions of the people around her to know their very thoughts. Everything about them leaked the message that they were tired of her acting as queen over them and she had been around them for such a long period of time that she could practically read their minds. "If he wants to stay here with that wretched girl, he can go ahead and do so. I have no objections. I won't accept traveling with someone who bond with such filth."

Yoh looked desperately at Manta, pleading silently that the boy would give up on Tamao and just come along with him. But his prayers were in vain in the face of Manta's endless ambition.

"You go ahead, Yoh," Manta said. "I won't hang around someone who belittles someone like that just because they refuse to work for her any longer. Anna has no heart, Yoh, and I'm not going to accept just going along with what she says for the rest of my life." This went without calamitous effects as Anna was already brooding by a nearby building, sulking silently in the shadows and staring off into the distance.

The truth was, she didn't want to undermine Tamao in such a harsh manner. It was the idea that she had expressed so much anger towards that stubborn young girl, yet she wouldn't even do her share of work was sickening. Many people, namely Yoh and Ryu, had pushed themselves to please her, but not Tamao. Tamao claimed to work at her best on one condition: she was provided a decent amount of shelter and was allowed to leave and return at will. Anna had accepted this with open arms and all the girl ever did was clean the bathroom and wash the dishes. In addition to that, she often had fits of crying that not even Anna's brief consolations couldn't end, which was ridiculous. They had no cause, and even if they did, Anna would never know. The pink-haired, pubescent girl wouldn't reveal a single thing. What could she do but fight fire with fire? What could she do but slowly push Tamao away while separating herself from those in close contact with her? The more she was around Tamao, the more she craved the event in which the childish girl would just vanish from her life forever.

But no one bothered to interrogate her on what was wrong and what was going on to create such contempt against an innocent creature who was simply trying to please her mistress. All they cared for was Tamao while leaving her behind in their jubilant thoughts and heavenly reminisce where days were peaceful. Now it had lead to this, and for what? Anna was unwanted. There was no other way to say it to make it sound any friendlier. Yoh could say anything he wanted and it wouldn't matter. Those feelings she had felt of desiring the courage to simply break down and cry never left her alone.

Even as Anna clutched her waist now, wanting to crumple onto the ground, kneel there and sob, she couldn't. She had maintained a strong image for so long that no one could shatter and she couldn't just keel over now and start crying like mad over nothing. The only time she had actually cried in the face of pressure was the night of the burning of Funbari Inn. Otherwise, all other crying had been concealed and usually held back.

"Manta, come on," Yoh implored without much consequence. Manta was just standing there, stark still,engrossedby something that was heaving itself up and down as though it's soul had been destroyed ruthlessly. He could, in fact, hear cries that were released in intervals.

"Shush." Manta's eyes observed this with great interest. "Yoh, look..."

"It's just another person going through a midlife crisis," Yoh responded vaguely upon examining it without much care.

"No, Yoh...that's Anna."


End file.
